Grandparents caring for grandchildren in rural China: consequences for emotional and cognitive health in later life

A multilevel analysis of the impact of transitioning to grandparenthood on individuals’ depression in England, Europe and China

“…Our findings used a broader concept of grandparenthood and a different measure of psychological health, contributing to a deeper understanding of the beneficial effect of grandparenthood on one's depression in less wealthy countries. As explained by the Structural Ambivalence Theory and the Modernisation Theory, a country's economic development influences familism which consequently affects the societal expectation for the role of grandparents, and moderates the relationship between grandparenthood and individuals' depression (Neuberger & Haberkern, 2014;Silverstein & Zuo, 2020). The findings imply that becoming a grandparent lessens the effect of depressive symptoms in lower income countries, which supports the role enhancement theory.…”

“…Depression is one of the four major diseases influencing human being (World Health Organisation, 2008). Previous research has specified non-linear relationship between grandchild care provision and depressive symptoms in Europe and the fact that the financial support received by older people moderates the impact of grandchild care provision on grandparents' depression in China (Bordone & Arpino, 2019;Condon et al, 2018;Di Gessa et al, 2016;Silverstein & Zuo, 2020). However, only two studies have paid attention to examining the initial transition to grandparenthood (Bordone & Arpino, 2019;Condon et al, 2018).…”

“…A number of covariates related to depression were controlled in the analyses based on existing literature (e.g. Bordone & Arpino, 2019;Silverstein & Zuo, 2020;Wang & Mutchler, 2020). Gender was used as a control variable in the models based on the full sample (Models 1, 2 & 5), and other analysis was stratified by gender (0 = male, 1 = female).…”

“…The role of grandparents has become increasingly important worldwide, whilst a large number of studies have shown that grandparenthood and grandchild care provision significantly affect individuals' health in later life (Condon et al, 2018;Di Gessa et al, 2016;Silverstein & Zuo, 2020). Previous research has suggested that the transition to grandparenthood has a complex effect on grandparents' depressive symptoms, which is influenced by macro-level factors such as the economic, cultural and policy context (Bordone & Arpino, 2019;Neuberger & Preisner, 2018).…”

Home Environment and Early Development of Rural Children: Evidence from Guizhou Province in China

“…Those caregivers may have exhibited responsiveness to children during the interview, but are overwhelmed with farming and childcare tasks during everyday life [ 59 ]. The high-intensity care required for small infants is reported to have detrimental health effects on grandparents [ 60 ], especially for elderly caregivers who are not adequately supported financially by their migrant children [ 61 ].…”